The U.S. is currently experiencing the largest nursing staff shortage in history with no end in sight. Affecting health care facilities, nursing homes and assisted living facilities alike, lack of resources, ongoing patient care challenges, health and sanitation concerns along with simply being overworked, are all factors fueling this nursing shortage.
The very first installation of the Mikrofill 3 hydronic pressurization unit in North America took place recently in a mechanical room of an assisted- and independent-living community in Southwest-suburban Chicago. You might say the flower of this innovation grew from the soil of an old industry friendship.
At a busy, large seafood restaurant — one that specializes in southern-fried dishes — kitchen grease was moving faster than customers’ forks. But the restaurant’s concrete interceptor couldn’t handle the flow, causing lotchen grease to be discharged directly into the sanitary sewer system. The discharge created a blockage at a nearby municipal pumping station used to pump effluent to the local sewage treatment plant. The blockage clogged the station’s pumps, reducing its ability to transfer wastewater.
For over 10 years, Inland Sales Group has been trying to raise awareness of Legionella. Most people in the United States know nothing about it — where does it come from, how does it get into our bodies and what does the plumbing world have anything to do with it?
As an infectious disease microbiologist who has studied Legionnaires’ disease for over 30 years, I have spent hundreds of hours with plumbing professionals, often alongside them in hot and dirty mechanical spaces. I often joke that this qualifies me as an apprentice in plumbing!
Judge Roy Lam could easily have been mistaken for a hang-em-high judge from a Clint Eastwood western movie! His demeanor could have scared-straight even the hardest of criminals. While arguing a case before another District Magistrate Judge where the deadbeat customer’s lawyer clearly sensed he was losing the case, he announced I had chosen the wrong venue (District Court for our business area) and should have filed charges against his client in her district. I asked him if he would really want to have me bring this case before Judge Roy Lam? He, realizing that would be a fool’s errand on his part, wisely threw in the towel. We secured full judgment and, finally, got paid.
My last two columns discussed both chemical and non-chemical additives or technologies that I treat as “must consider” for plumbing engineers in their design practices to reduce the risk of Legionella bacteria developing in the domestic water system. As I mentioned, these topics might not be a code minimum requirement, but as an engineering community, we have a responsibility to uphold the health and safety of the public. Therefore, we should discuss these technologies with our clients for many different building types we come across in our design.
Welcome to Spring 2023! Regardless of the temperature, I know spring is close when the male American Goldfinches start their molt from olive green to vibrant yellow. It is a beautiful sight to see and promises warmer days ahead.